Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) completed his purchase of a stake in Sharp Display Products Corp, paving the way for the two groups to cooperate on the production of panels used in televisions and cellphones.
SIO International Holdings Ltd, wholly owned by Gou, paid ¥49 billion (US$617 million) to buy 979,200 shares of Sharp Display from Sharp Corp, Osaka-based Sharp said in a statement yesterday.
The transaction follows a ¥17 billion payment Gou made last month as the first stage in his acquisition of a 37.6 percent stake in the display business.
Gou, founder of Foxconn and chairman of its flagship Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), which manufactures Apple Inc’s iPad, is investing his own money in the display business to share the risk after Hon Hai agreed to buy a stake directly in Sharp. The display unit will be renamed Sakai Display Products Corp and operate an advanced 10th-generation liquid crystal display factory in Osaka prefecture.
Hon Hai said on June 23 it would book a loss of NT$4.27 billion (US$142 million), while Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準), a smaller affiliate that makes metal computer casings, would mark down about NT$2.1 billion, from their purchase of new stock in Sharp.
The write-downs followed a drop in the stock of the Japanese electronics maker from the ¥550 a share price they agreed on for the deal.
Hon Hai and Foxconn Technology Co will have a combined 9.9 percent stake in Sharp after the companies complete the transaction this month.
Sharp will own 37.6 percent of Sakai Display, while Toppan Printing Co and Dai Nippon Printing Co will own 9.54 percent each after merging their operations with the display maker, according to a May 24 statement. About 5.7 percent of shares will be held as treasury stock.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,